Walmart Announces a New Generative AI Playground(?)

Quite interesting, looking for more references (Excerpt)  in Venturebeat.

Walmart, Meta and LinkedIn are three companies currently testing internal generative AI options for employees that are safe for the use of company data, either in the form of generative AI “playgrounds” that offer a variety of models to choose from, or in the case of Meta, its own in-house internal chatbot.

These examples stand in contrast to companies that have banned the use of public generative AI tools like ChatGPT, including Goldman Sachs, Amazon and Verizon.

Walmart announces a new generative AI playground

Last week, Walmart announced its new Generative AI Playground, a platform the company describes as an “early-stage internal GenAI tool where associates can explore and learn about this new technology, while keeping our company and its data safe.”

The news builds on an interview in April with Desiree Gosby, VP of emerging technology at Walmart Global Tech, who told VentureBeat that the retailer is building on OpenAI’s GPT-4, among other models, and that generative AI is “as big a shift as mobile.

The announcement, made last week in a LinkedIn post by Cheryl Ainoa, EVP of new businesses and emerging technology at Walmart Global Tech, says, “there will be various GenAI models available to try out all in one place…enabling our associates to see the difference in how each model reacts to the same prompts.”

The screen welcoming associates to Walmart’s Generative AI Playground says that employees “learn best from trial an error” and that the tool is a “safe way to try how GenAI can be used without risk of data leakage or exposure” and a place associates can use “more realistic prompts for their job function.”   .... ' 

Google Introduces new features—called Search Generative Experience

New Search in Retail

Google Introduces new features—called Search Generative Experience   by Tom Ryan  in Retailwire

Google last week introduced a new set of features—called Search Generative Experience—that deliver AI-generated summaries to queries similar to ChatGPT as well as follow-up prompts to engage users in a conversation. The technology promises more accurate, relevant and expansive information when shopping via Google search.

“With generative AI in Search, we can help you understand the full picture when you’re shopping, making even the most considered and complex purchase decisions faster and much easier,” wrote Elizabeth Reid, Google’s VP & GM, search, in a blog entry. “When searching for a product, you’ll get a snapshot of noteworthy factors to consider and products that fit the bill. You’ll also get product descriptions that include relevant, up-to-date reviews, ratings, prices and product images.”

The technology giant’s new generative AI shopping technology is powered by Google’s Shopping Graph, which has over 35 billion product listings with 1.8 billion refreshed every hour.

Follow-ups to the original search query take on a conversational style without the need for repeating context or details already provided. “You’ll also find helpful jumping-off points to web content and a range of perspectives that you can dig into,” Ms. Reid wrote.

Search ads will continue to appear in dedicated slots throughout the page, promising to be “distinguishable from organic search results.”

The search feature will initially only be available in the U.S. through a waiting list system. The platform is described as an ongoing “experiment” with improvements expected over time.

“There are known limitations with generative AI and LLMs [large-language models], and Search, even today, will not always get it right,” wrote Ms. Reid. “We’re taking a responsible and deliberate approach to bringing new generative AI capabilities to search.” ... ' 

Will Generative AI Improve Customer Experiences in Retail

 Useful thoughts and directions.

Will Generative AI Improve Customer Experiences in Retail  by Patricia Vekich Waldron

Customer experience (CX) and customer service leaders gathered in San Diego this week for the Reuters Events: Customer Service & Experience West 2023 conference. The consensus was that customer care is a brand differentiator and strategic focus for companies–especially given that customer expectations, call volumes, service employee attrition and training costs are all up.

In a session titled “Generative AI in CX,” Shawn Strassburg, head of transformation, Best Buy, discussed how the consumer electronics retailer uses artificial intelligence to solve specific CX/contact center business problems.

“Three and a half years ago, where the company made a very on-purpose decision, that we were going to re-envision customer care with a key focus on customer obsession. And really, really understanding your customers’ words, their voice,” said Mr. Strassburg. The retailer is halfway through its transformation.

The company uses a top-down/bottom-up approach to understand customers using data to guide decision-making. Leadership, business, data and analytics, and finance teams secured a top-down commitment and alignment to truly understand customers and the internal customer care processes. Bottom-up insights come from front-line teams, call center agents’ experiences, and customers’ experiences interacting with Best Buy’s CX organization.

Best Buy created a lab staffed with top agents and discovered a disconnect between contact center system data and what was happening as customers called in. To improve agent performance and customer experience, Best Buy implemented AI for real-time audio transcription, automated contact summaries and contact intent detection.

Lab trials have delivered a 25 percent reduction in after-call work (ACW) as call agents no longer must manually compose and enter call history and actions. There was also an 18-second reduction in talk time.

“As we tested it out, we were anticipating about a 15-second reduction in just talk time, not a negative way, but in a super positive way because it was helping to build a foundation of trust and partnership within our agent base and in our customer base,” said Mr. Strassburg.

Best Buy is auditing its systems and processes to identify where to plug in AI capabilities to hear the voice of their customer better, discover the true intent of why they call for service and determine if it has succeeded in resolving issues.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: What role(s) do you see generative artificial intelligence playing for retailers looking to improve the customer experience? How does Best Buy’s approach compare to other retailers? ... ' 

Do Retailers Need to Have the AI Talk With Consumers?

 Large retail is already thinking this.

Do Retailers Need to Have the AI Talk With Consumers? in RetailWire

12 EXPERT COMMENTS  Apr 27, 2023 by Tom Ryan

Recent surveys show consumers are interested in but also increasingly concerned about potential threats from artificial intelligence (AI) with the arrival of ChatGPT and other generative AI.

A recent survey conducted by Forbes Advisor found 76 percent of U.S consumers were concerned with misinformation from AI tools such as Google Bard, ChatGPT and Bing Chat. Most were concerned about AI’s use for product descriptions, product reviews, chatbots answering questions and personalized advertising.

The findings suggest “a consumer demand for transparency and ethical AI practices to foster trust between businesses and their customers,” according to Forbes.

A survey from CX platform DISQO taken in early March found 34 percent of U.S. adults don’t think generative AI tools should be used for most consumer-facing content (43 percent among Boomers versus 21 percent for Gen Z).

The top-five concerns around AI were poorer accuracy, cited by 45 percent; lack of human touch, 38 percent; negative impact on jobs, 36 percent; low emotional depth, 35 percent; and more bias, 29 percent. Sixty-eight percent had a low overall knowledge level of AI-generated content tools.

“Consumers are wary and need to be informed and educated about what’s in it for them,” Patrick Egan, director of research and insights, DISQO, said in a statement.

A Morning Consult survey taken in mid-February found that while more than half of the U.S. public believes AI integrations into products and services are the future of technology, just one-third think AI technologies will be developed responsibly. One-third trust AI to provide factual results.

“We don’t need to be afraid of it, but we do need to be in control of it,” Massachusetts Congressman Jake Auchincloss told Morning Consult. “It can’t be like social media where it was allowed to scale and to influence much of our private and public lives before we really got a handle on it — and frankly, still haven’t gotten a handle on it.”

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: Will consumer apprehension around artificial intelligence likely impact retail’s ability to capitalize on the technology? What role should retailers play in building trust in AI tools?  ... ' 

Do Retailers Need to Have the AI Talk With Consumers?

Likely not, but since its easy to do expect some tests

Do Retailers Need to Have the AI Talk With Consumers?    by Tom Ryan in RetailWire

Recent surveys show consumers are interested in but also increasingly concerned about potential threats from artificial intelligence (AI) with the arrival of ChatGPT and other generative AI.

A recent survey conducted by Forbes Advisor found 76 percent of U.S consumers were concerned with misinformation from AI tools such as Google Bard, ChatGPT and Bing Chat. Most were concerned about AI’s use for product descriptions, product reviews, chatbots answering questions and personalized advertising.

The findings suggest “a consumer demand for transparency and ethical AI practices to foster trust between businesses and their customers,” according to Forbes.

A survey from CX platform DISQO taken in early March found 34 percent of U.S. adults don’t think generative AI tools should be used for most consumer-facing content (43 percent among Boomers versus 21 percent for Gen Z).

The top-five concerns around AI were poorer accuracy, cited by 45 percent; lack of human touch, 38 percent; negative impact on jobs, 36 percent; low emotional depth, 35 percent; and more bias, 29 percent. Sixty-eight percent had a low overall knowledge level of AI-generated content tools.

“Consumers are wary and need to be informed and educated about what’s in it for them,” Patrick Egan, director of research and insights, DISQO, said in a statement.

A Morning Consult survey taken in mid-February found that while more than half of the U.S. public believes AI integrations into products and services are the future of technology, just one-third think AI technologies will be developed responsibly. One-third trust AI to provide factual results.

“We don’t need to be afraid of it, but we do need to be in control of it,” Massachusetts Congressman Jake Auchincloss told Morning Consult. “It can’t be like social media where it was allowed to scale and to influence much of our private and public lives before we really got a handle on it — and frankly, still haven’t gotten a handle on it.” ...'

Why Hasn’t One-Click Checkout Gained Much Traction Beyond Amazon?

For now, this tech has stalled.

Why Hasn’t One-Click Checkout Gained Much Traction Beyond Amazon?    By Tom Ryan

Research from Cornell University finds adding “one-click” checkout leads online shoppers to increase their website visits, purchase a broader range of merchandise and spend an average of 28.5 percent more versus previous buying levels.

“Because one-click takes so much pain away from the shopping experience, we see consumers willing to spend more time on the site and search for more items,” said Murat Unal, a former Cornell professor who’s now an economist at Amazon.com, in an article for the Cornell Chronicle.

One-click checkout requires customers to store payment and delivery information with the retailer beforehand, eliminating the tedium of doing so with every checkout.

Amazon is known for its “Buy Now” button partly because it held the “1-Click” patent from 1999 until 2017. Amazon licensed the technology to Apple just before the launch of iTunes.

In a Knowledge at Wharton podcast recorded soon after the patent expired, Kartik Hosanagar, a Wharton marketing professor, described one-click as a “huge asset” for Amazon and “a very important event in the history of e-commerce.” He elaborated, “First, it was a very simple and intuitive system and generated a lot of controversy — could something so simple and obvious be patented? Second, it became an important part of the experience that Amazon offered and became a flag bearer for the convenient shopping experience that Amazon came to be known. And finally, it showed how e-commerce was as much about technology and data as it was about retail.”

Paypal, Apple and Shopify have introduced one-click offerings with the promise of reducing cart abandonment, but one-click isn’t as pervasive as some predicted it would become after the patent’s expiration. One-click checkout startups have also faced turbulence with Stripe-backed Fast shutting down last year and Bolt undergoing layoffs earlier this year ...'

How Will Generative AI Shape Retail Customer Service?

Good overview...

How Will Generative AI Shape Retail Customer Service  by Tom Ryan in Retailwire

Customer service reps (CSRs) continue to land on lists of the top ten jobs at risk due to advances in conversational artificial intelligence (AI). Some observers, however, are hopeful the technologies only reinvent the role for the customer’s benefit instead of replacing jobs.

Paul Daugherty, Accenture’s group chief executive, technology and chief technology officer, writing for the Harvard Business Review, predicts AI will automate a few repetitive tasks for CSRs, augment others and add “new, high-value tasks” to the CSR role.

“The ability of generative AI to put massive amounts of information at the fingertips of CSRs greatly increases their capacity to resolve the customer’s problem more thoroughly and quickly than either a chatbot alone or a CSR following a rote script,” said Mr. Daugherty. “But because conversational AI can sometimes produce plausible sounding but nevertheless incorrect, irrelevant, or nonsensical responses, a human must remain in the loop to ensure the accuracy and trustworthiness of machine-generated suggestions and information.”

Writing for Unite.AI, Eli Israelovk, CEO of CommBox, a communications automation platform, said AI could reduce stress and increase job satisfaction for CSRs. “They can deal only with the most complex or valuable calls, while bots and other automated features serve more simple queries,” he wrote. 

Yoon Kim, assistant professor of computer science at MIT, speaking to Scripps News, believes that while humans will be necessary for monitoring, ChatGPT-enabled chatbots “can cover a wider range of customer queries, and moreover, enhance the engagement of the customer with the chatbot, and ultimately widen the scope of problems that can be potentially addressed.”

Artificial intelligence was being  touted for its potential to reduce   waits and problem resolution times in a 24/7 timeframe, tailor responses based on individual consumer preferences and drive down costs even before ChatGPT and the hype around it arrived.

Gartner last year predicted that by 2027, chatbots will become the primary customer service channel for roughly a quarter of organizations. Uma Challa, a Gartner analyst specializing in customer service and support technology, said in a release, “When designed correctly, chatbots can improve customer experience and drive positive customer emotion at a lower cost than live interactions.”  .... ' 

Pepsi Doing Technology and AI

Interesting look at Pepsi's Technology Advances

04/05/2023

Tech Transformation Podcast: PepsiCo’s Kate Garner On Consumer Insights’ Evolution

There may be no bigger priority for both retailers and consumer goods companies today than access to consumer insights, and PepsiCo has stood up its own data analytics practice known as Pepviz to seize this opportunity. In this episode of Tech Transformation, we’re talking with Kate Garner, SVP of marketing, demand accelerator, at PepsiCo about some of their latest findings, how the company's use of technology has evolved, and how it's helping them develop more collaborative retail relationships. 

Listen to learn: 

How the use of technology at PepsiCo has evolved over the last 20 years

How Pepviz is helping retailers leverage consumer insights for market share and revenue growth

How they share these insights across the PepsiCo organization 

How PepsiCo overcomes some of the challenges associated with data democratization

What’s next for Pepviz and what Garner sees as the future of retail

The potential of generative AI within consumer goods and retail

How PepsiCo’s use of technology has evolved: “From an insights perspective, we've gone from a world of deep longitudinal surveys, where you're getting a lot of stated purchase behavior, and moving more into a place where we're able to look at actual purchase behavior and link that then to get to that closed-loop measurement that's so critical, to be able to ensure we're delivering that return on investment. 

“And then taking it even a step further and getting down to individual store level. So when we think about the insights that we're able to attain, and transfer that then all the way down to an advantage that we have, which is having our sales associates in all the stores across the country, we’re able then to curate those insights in a very granular way to what's happening in their store.”

How they work with retailers: “We had a Midwestern retailer who was very interested in growing their carbonated soft drink business. And we were able to look across their footprint of stores, and first able to separate out where stores were excelling and where stores had opportunities. Then, within their footprint, we could look to seek and understand what are some of the differences? What are lookalike stores — and lookalike stores doesn’t necessarily mean that they're in close geographical proximity, but specifically, how do we look at the shoppers that are shopping that store? And then identify what's unique or differentiated about those stores, and how do we take the stores that are underperforming, build some of the insights and things that are happening within the stores with higher growth. 

“We were able to then go activate against those execution parameters. Exciting for the retailer, as exciting for us, we were able to deliver incremental growth for both of us, for the retailer to see a 16% lift in their carbonated soft drink business.”

How they leverage consumer insights across the company: “It's almost like a marketing campaign, and you need to break down the target audience into different personas. We have some within our organization who use this capability on a day-in and day-out basis, and so for those folks, we have training, we have webinars, we record them, we put them at their fingertips, and then we have experts, who would have an office-hour type capability to meet with some of our sales and category leaders to answer questions, all the way up to our senior executives, where we're looking to just curate and help inform them on the insights and the learnings.

"And so there, you'll see we have quarterly newsletters that we're putting into the inbox. If you go into Pepviz.com, you also can get those and sign up to see some of those newsletters. So really articulating for the marketplace what are the industry leading insights that we're seeing.”

The potential of generative AI in consumer goods and retail: “One of the areas that I see potential in, having led insights organizations here within PepsiCo, really migrating away from stated behavior. And so when I think about the ability for sentiment tracking, rather than just tracking words, being able to get into tone and understanding, or in search, and helping us articulate more clearly. Those are areas that excite me to think about how we experience those things differently and more nuanced. …

"I think that how generative AI takes off within the CPG and retail space will be dependent upon how they find solutions that connect to those territories of where we are already investing as an industry. So to the extent that they can tap into those areas and show progress in those spaces, I think it will take off quickly. Otherwise, it may be areas of the future.”   ... '

Norstrom and Panera Using AI

 AI Usage examples

Nordstrom and Panera Leverage AI and Automation to Enhance Operations

AI AUTOMATION NORDSTROM PANERA BREAD

Mar 30, 2023, by Melissa Minkow

Alexis DePree, chief supply chain officer of Nordstrom, and George Hanson, VP/chief digital officer of Panera Bread, sat down on Monday at Shoptalk in Las Vegas to discuss the bright future that retail can anticipate leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and automation. 

Both leaders agreed that the key to optimizing operations comes down to leveraging AI and automation for low-value, repeatable tasks so that employees are freed up to engage with customers at a high-value, ad hoc level. Not only does embracing technology in this way improve the customer experience, but it also empowers the workforce, driving employee satisfaction. 

Given Ms. DePree’s focus area, most of the AI and automation-based wins she shared were related to logistics. Nordstrom has been leaning into AI and automation to design unique routing depending on the order, improve rates of return, and maximize storage space. 

“The supply chain used to be set it and forget it. Now it differs with each order,” said Ms. DePree. 

She explained that there is now more complexity in the supply chain and automation has allowed for its movement from a cost center to a value driver. Additionally, since storage density has significantly increased, warehouses are much more economical thanks to the retailer’s advanced technology. 

Panera’s use of AI and automation enables more personalized digital and dining experiences. Mr. Hanson specifically highlighted the brand’s reliance on AI-powered voice recognition in the drive-thru. He also pointed to the use of AI to accommodate customers whose orders require repair by proactively offering a range of options. 

Further, he mentioned how crucial technology is in alleviating “microfrictions” when ordering in the cafe. Panera has recalibrated its use of AI and automation in online ordering, drive-thru and in-cafe operations. Mr. Hanson emphasized that properly allocating resources across experiences has ensured that winning, AI-based app features are brought to life in the cafe ... '

Should AI Insights be Shared with Consumers, and How?

 Interesting thoughts.    Are analytic marketing methods shared with consumers?    Resources at link. 

Should AI Insights Be Shared With Consumers?   by Tom Ryan  in Retailwire   plus expert opinion.

Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, a psychology professor at University College London, argues In a column for Harvard Business Review that while artificial intelligence (AI) technology is helping brands understand their customers better, it can also help customers understand themselves better.

“Your choice of music reveals the degree to which you are extraverted, curious, and neurotic; your choice of movies reveals the degree to which you are intelligent, conscientious, and agreeable; your Facebook data reveals whether you are conservative or liberal, sociable or introverted, optimistic or pessimistic; your tweets reveal whether you are narcissistic or not, and so on,” he writes.

Prof. Chamorro-Premuzic posits that AI could be used to discover, interpret and share these patterns. The algorithmic insights, he adds, can offer “granular and personalized” reads into preferences and personality traits in real time to help individuals “become more self-aware.”

“Just as wearables can translate physiological signals into actionable feedback on our fitness, energy, sleepiness, or stress levels, AI could detect changing patterns to our habits to alert us about increases in negative or positive affect, curiosity, or aggression,” he writes.

AI’s potential for therapy – at least as a complementary tool – is being increasingly examined, particularly given the financial and logistical barriers facing human-centered treatment.

In the UK, an AI chatbot, Limbic Access, was recently approved for medical use. It promises to predict mental health disorders with 93 percent accuracy.

A recent NPR article stated, “Advances in artificial intelligence — such as ChatGPT — are increasingly being looked to as a way to help screen for, or support, people who are dealing with isolation, or mild depression or anxiety. Human emotions are tracked, analyzed and responded to, using machine learning that tries to monitor a patient’s mood, or mimic a human therapist’s interactions with a patient.”

Prof. Chamorro-Premuzic said brands sharing AI-driven insights into their consumers’ personalities could help overcome the “creepy” feeling that comes with personalized targeting. He wrote, “Brands will enhance their ethical reputation and trustworthiness if they share this understanding with consumers, persuading them that there is no conflict between knowing them well, and helping them know themselves well, when done in an ethical and transparent way.”

Amazon Go Stores Close

The fully automated checkout stores will close, unclear if this is general abandonment of the concept or just cost cutting. 

Amazon Go stores to close in cities coast to coast

8 Amazon Go stores to close April 1

By Julia Musto FOXBusiness

Cathie Wood makes a prediction about Amazon's future workforce

Ark Invest's Cathie Wood predicts Amazon will have more robot employees than humans by 2030.

Amazon is permanently closing some of its Amazon Go stores in major cities on both coasts. 

The locations include two stores in Seattle, two stores in New York City and four in San Francisco. 

"Like any physical retailer, we periodically assess our portfolio of stores and make optimization decisions along the way. In this case, we’ve decided to close a small number of Amazon Go stores in Seattle, New York City and San Francisco," an Amazon spokesperson told FOX Business in a Saturday email. 

Two of the Seattle closures will have minimum impact, as they have been shuttered for some time.    ... ' 

P&G Launching Supply Chain Platform for Retail Partners

My former employer Announces   02/28/2023

P&G Launching Supply Chain Platform for Retail Partners, Dives Into Digital Innovation and Data Strategies

Liz Dominguez, Managing Editor  in Consumergoods.com

P&G is continuing to invest in digital transformation, focusing specifically on the supply chain, retail execution, and environmental sustainability. 

Perhaps the most notable initiative thus far, however, is its efforts toward launching a collaborative supply chain strategy. This July, the company is moving forward with a supply chain services platform for retail partners across North America. 

“It will enable us to better serve our joint consumers while streamlining the end-to-end supply chain, aiming to create a sustainable and expanding competitive advantage,” said Jon Moeller, P&G’s president and CEO, at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York (CAGNY) investors conference last week.

The news follows several previously announced Supply Chain 3.0 initiatives, expected to culminate in productivity savings of up to $1.5 billion per year — some of which be re-invested to expand capacity. 

More About Supply Chain 3.0

The company's Supply Chain 3.0 strategy includes heavy investments across its digital capabilities to drive productivity and cost effectiveness — with a significant focus on automation within P&G’s distribution centers and supply warehouses.

Part of this includes finding new ways to identify and develop new raw materials. The company is tapping proprietary algorithms, virtual reality tools, and artificial intelligence in order to digitally design molecules and create formulas, plugging in real-time data related to costs and raw material availability. Moeller reported this has shortened P&G’s product development time frame from years to mere months.

 

Where Should Retailers Start with ‘generative’ AI?

 Some good points are covered. 

Where should retailers start with ‘Generative’ AI?

Feb 27, 2023, by Tom Ryan  with additional expert comment at the link.

“I think it’s exciting, what’s possible with generative AI,” Amazon.com’s CEO Andy Jassy said in a recent interview with Financial Times. “And it’s part of what you’re seeing with models like ChatGPT. But most large, deeply technical companies like ours, have been working on these very large, generative AI models themselves for a long time.”

Amazon is believed to be behind the “generative” AI race between Microsoft and Google, which hosted media events in early February highlighting their generative AI technology.

The AI-driven technology promises to understand and respond to natural language inputs with context. According to Investor’s Business Daily, Bank of America analyst Justin Post wrote in a note, “Use of AI will be a critical driver of all things Internet, including content relevance, ad performance, e-commerce conversion, marketplace efficiency and even customer service.”

ModernRetail said brands and retailers are looking to partner with ChatGPT-tech providers, with only a few larger, tech-driven corporations like Amazon, Shopify, JD.com and Alibaba seeking to develop similar tools themselves. Reuters wrote, “An exchange with AI known as a large language model likely costs ten times more than a standard keyword search.”  ... ' 

If Search is Really Reinvented

Seen from the retail direction, if Search is reinvented significantly, what will that mean?  Faster, more accurate?   Supply chains?   Search engine optimization certainly.    Mused about in pundits from Retailwire.  

Will ChatGPT reinvent search?  by Tom Ryan

Microsoft and Google both revealed plans last week to introduce their own ChatGPT-style product, joining the hype around the AI-driven chatbot technology.

Developed by San Francisco-based startup OpenAI and introduced last November, ChatGPT taps generative artificial intelligence to provide people with human-like responses to their questions. The technology also generates a wide range of digital text that can be repurposed in nearly any context, including in tweets, blog posts, term papers, poetry and even computer code.

Microsoft, which is investing $10 billion in OpenAI, will integrate ChatGPT technology with its Bing search engine and Edge web browser

Brad Smith. vice chair and president of Microsoft, said in a blog entry, “Today’s cutting-edge AI is a powerful tool for advancing critical thinking and stimulating creative expression. It makes it possible not only to search for information but to seek answers to questions. It can help people uncover insights amid complex data and processes. It speeds up our ability to express what we learn more quickly. Perhaps most important, it’s going to do all these things better and better in the coming months and years.

Google will soon offer an AI and natural language-enhanced version of its Google search engine called Bard, as well as a chatbot.

However, Microsoft created more buzz, having introduced a limited version of the new Bing available to some users this week to rave reviews and drawing predictions that Bing may threaten Google’s search dominance.

Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella said at a media event, “This technology is going to reshape pretty much every software category.”

In China, JD.com, Alibaba and Baidu confirmed they are working on ChatGPT-style projects, as well. Meta is also planning to release similar technology across various products.

Microsoft said its search engine includes technology that identifies and removes problematic content from the chat service. However, the A.I. technologies are known for often producing toxic content, including misinformation, hate speech and biases against women and people of color.  ... ' 

Labeling Your Retail Shelf Spaces

 Worked this topic  at some length in our lab and with retailers, still evolving.  ... 

Retail advancements 

Electronic shelf labels    can significantly transform a store’s operations with an increasing array of benefits for retailers.

Download this whitepaper to learn how electronic shelf labels are driving pricing systems for retailers around the world. Learn about benefits like:

Providing customers with better product information – With ESL, the workload for retail staff will be lightened, allowing them to focus on better customer service.

Reducing waste by eliminating the need for paper labels – ESLs are environmentally friendly and can save operation costs. Using traditional paper labels means having to maintain printing costs, as well as logistics costs.

Solving pricing discrepancies between the label and the register – By using ESL, retailers can introduce a seamless change in product prices whenever they need. This can save on labor costs and relieve labor shortage pressure due to current global challenges.  .. ' 

Retail Inventory Shelf Analysis with AI

 Worked on something very similar to this in Laboratory Stores, but without AI.   Learned much in the general process. 

Google Cloud Introduces Shelf Inventory Predictive Tool for Retailers

The Wall Street Journal

Isabelle Bousquette, January 13, 2023

An artificial intelligence tool developed by researchers at Google Cloud aims to help big-box retailers improve shelf inventory tracking. The algorithm uses videos and images from the retailer's ceiling-mounted cameras, camera-equipped self-driving robots, or store associates to assess the availability of goods on shelves. The tool was trained on a database of more than a billion products and can recognize products regardless of the source or angle of the images. In tests at the innovation lab of supermarket chain Giant Eagle Inc., the tool achieved more than 90% accuracy, which Giant Eagle's Graham Watkins said is not sufficient to deploy it at scale. Giant Eagle will roll out a pilot program in an actual store, but a chain-wide deployment is not likely for several years (if at all).

Full Article   

Sears Hometown

Was informed of this some time ago and the name Sears struck me, in the day had consulted with Sears and often shopped there.  Used to have the best prices.  Knew of Sears Holdings, which at this time primarily was involved with former store real estate.    Gone now it seems. 

RIP Sears Hometown

Dec 15, 2022 by George Anderson

Put a fork in it. Sears Hometown is truly done.

The company, made up of franchisees currently operating about 100 small stores selling appliances, hardware, tools, and lawn and garden equipment, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday.

“What is happening here is this company is going out of business,” Mark Minuti, an attorney for Sears Hometown, said yesterday at the first bankruptcy hearing, according to Bloomberg. “Make no mistake about it: this is a sad day for our company.”

The ending of Sears Hometown marks another disappointing and demoralizing chapter in the larger story of Sears under the control of Eddie Lampert.

Sears Hometown, which was spun off by Sears Holdings in 2012, had around 1,250 stores operating in 2014 under the banners Sears Hometown Stores, Sears Home Appliance Showrooms, Sears Appliance & Hardware Stores and Sears Outlet Stores.

CNN reports that Sears Hometown had around 700 stores operating three years ago.

A 2020 Wall Street Journal article found Sears Hometown franchisees complaining about being squeezed by Sears. They reported having trouble getting the inventory they needed and then being penalized if they matched prices for products sold on sears.com. Tom Coulter, a franchisee in Vermont, told the Journal that his store went from being profitable to losing money in four years as a result.

Transformco, controlled by Mr. Lampert, reacquired Sears Hometown in 2019 as part of Sears’ bankruptcy. There are currently about 15 Sears stores remaining, with the last full line store in Maryland slated to close in January.

There is little debate that the end of Sears Hometown, and the all but predetermined ends of Sears and Kmart, are the doing of Mr. Lampert, who for years issued annual missives arguing that retail industry watchers and others were simply not bright enough to understand his grand plan for creating a retailing powerhouse.  ... ' 

Buzzfeed, Again?

 Remember talking to these folks, long ago.   As a means of gathering data about retail trends.  Never congealed.   A revisit of current activity.

The unbearable lightness of BuzzFeed

BuzzFeed built a digital media empire in part by aggregating viral content from social media. A decade later, what’s next?    By Mia Sato

Nina* was scrolling Apple News in July 2021 when she came across a headline that looked familiar. Even before opening the story, she had a feeling she might be in it.

The BuzzFeed article, titled “People Are Sharing Non-Obvious Signs That Are Actually A Cry For Help, And It’s Eye-Opening,” was taken from a Reddit thread posted earlier in the day asking how to recognize when someone is struggling with mental health issues. The story pulled in more than a dozen Reddit responses to create a numbered list. A comment Nina had left was right at the top.

“I posted something extremely personal and it happened to be the first quote in their article which was one of the top articles of the day on Apple News,” Nina told The Verge in an email. (Nina requested a pseudonym to protect her privacy.) “That’s scary. I had no idea, I didn’t know my username would be linked with it, and it was a total accident I stumbled upon it.”

When Nina asked other Redditors about BuzzFeed’s sourcing practices, she found a sense of resignation but also open frustration — a sense of theft. BuzzFeed was “sleazy,” some said, and most journalism was a “clickbait fiesta.” Even a few conspiracy theories emerged, like the suggestion that BuzzFeed writers planted r/AskReddit questions for upcoming stories. (BuzzFeed spokesperson Matt Mittenthal says the outlet doesn’t do this, instead crowdsourcing responses from readers.)

BuzzFeed built an empire on posts like this — mining Reddit, Tumblr, and other social media sites for content with the potential to go viral, repackaging it for a broader audience, and collecting the resulting traffic from Facebook shares. In the early to mid-2010s, the strategy seemed all but unstoppable: cute animals and feel-good photos subsidized a ferociously ambitious hard news division, and BuzzFeed’s ability to drive internet culture sparked outright jealousy from others in the media.

“I hate myself because I don’t work at BuzzFeed,” the letter read

An anonymous note sent to The Awl’s advice columnist in 2015 captured BuzzFeed’s cultural cachet: “I hate myself because I don’t work at BuzzFeed,” the letter read. “BuzzFeed is the most widely recognized media brand among young people, and will inevitably eclipse the major media organizations and one day become a super-hegemonic media power the likes of which we’ve never seen.”

But what worked in 2015 is a far cry from what works in 2022. On Monday, BuzzFeed reported earnings for the fourth time as a public company, recording $103.7 million in revenue for the latest quarter, above its own projections. But the rest of the news was dire: BuzzFeed lost $27 million, and the time audiences spent with its content plunged 32 percent from a year ago — its fourth straight quarterly decline. The company expects revenue in the fourth quarter of 2022 to dip compared to last year as well.

BuzzFeed’s ability to reflect, amplify, and create massive cultural moments by giving a staff of hundreds free rein to invent new formats led to a $1.7 billion valuation in 2016. It built a Pulitzer-winning newsroom with BuzzFeed News, popularized a genre of simple and stylized cooking content with Tasty, and launched a slate of beloved shows like BuzzFeed Unsolved and Another Round.

Today, BuzzFeed’s high-profile hosts have moved on, its news division has been gutted, and its core website pays contractors flat rates starting around $100 per post to chase trending topics. The company’s valuation is down to just $237 million, and dozens of current and former employees are suing BuzzFeed for losing out on millions, saying they weren’t able to sell their shares during the brief financial bright spot after the company went public last year. They now watch from the outside as the company’s value plummets and newer, more ruthless competitors native to the platforms themselves generate viral chum faster and more cheaply.   ... ' 

The State of Grocery Retail Around the World

The state of grocery retail around the world

October 6, 2022 | Podcast     By Bill Aull, Dymfke Kuijpers, and Daniel Läubli  in McKinsey

The state of grocery retail around the world ... 

A survey of more than 30,000 consumers and 100 grocery CEOs reveals the challenges—and opportunities—that grocery retailers face today.

Changes to the global grocery retail market are happening fast. Trends that emerged during the pandemic are persisting, reshaping the industry. Consider this: in December 2019, the percentage of e-commerce grocery sales in the US market was slightly under 4 percent; it’s now in the low teens and is expected to reach roughly 25 percent by 2030. The adoption of online grocery is expected to be even higher in parts of Europe.

In this episode of the McKinsey on Consumer and Retail podcast, three McKinsey experts share insights from their latest research on the global grocery retail industry. An edited transcript of their conversation with host Monica Toriello follows. Subscribe to the podcast.

Monica Toriello: Today we’re going to hear about the state of grocery retail all around the world. McKinsey’s Retail Practice has undertaken a huge research effort that encompassed surveys of more than 30,000 consumers and more than 100 grocery CEOs globally about what’s happening in grocery and what the future of the sector might look like. We’ll hear from the regional leaders of this research to tell us about what they’re seeing in Asia, Europe, and North America.

First up is Bill Aull, a partner who leads McKinsey’s office in Charlotte, North Carolina. Bill has expertise in a number of retail and consumer packaged goods (CPG) topics, including merchandising, category management, and strategy. Bill, thanks for being here—and tell us one or two things that you get at every trip to the grocery store. For me, it’s seltzer water and some kind of dried fruit. What is it for you?

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Bill Aull: Great to be here. At the grocery store, I always get cream cheese, eggs, and some sort of grainy bread.

Monica Toriello: Next up is Dymfke Kuijpers, a senior partner who leads our Consumer Practice in Asia and our work in consumer tech in the region. Dymfke is a Dutch national who’s been based in Singapore for the past five years. Dymfke, nice to have you with us. And tell us one thing you can’t leave the grocery store without.

Dymfke Kuijpers: Very nice to be here, Monica. I never leave the grocery store without stone berries. They’re the best indication of the supply chain of the grocer.

Monica Toriello: That’s good to know. Last but not least, Daniel Läubli is a senior partner based in Zurich. He leads McKinsey’s work in grocery globally and coleads our Retail Practice in Europe. His areas of expertise include strategy, store operations, and advanced analytics. Welcome to the podcast, Daniel, and tell us what your grocery must-have is.

Daniel Läubli: Monica, great to be here. My grocery must-have is dark Swiss chocolate. I eat at least a pack a day, so whenever I go shopping, I need a lot of that.

How consumer behavior has changed

Monica Toriello: All of us, to some extent, are grocery shoppers; we’re all consumers. So let’s start this conversation with the consumer. Broadly speaking, when consumers shop for groceries these days, they notice that prices are higher. And they’re trying to stretch their budgets, so they’ve become more value conscious, as your grocery reports have said—but you’ve also said they want to eat healthier and they care about sustainability. There’s some tension between those things, because healthier foods and sustainable products tend to be not the cheapest options. Bill, let’s start with North America: Is the picture that I’ve painted an accurate picture of the consumer?  ... ' 

Sutherland on the Future of Augmented Reality Displays

In fact, at the big enterprise, we tested some of Sutherland's findings in real life retail.   But found it to mostly be too 'busy' for practical use.  Still worth further examination in a new era of adaptive interaction.  What would make it pop for the right cases? 

The metaverse offers challenges and possibilities for the future of the retail industry  by Omar H. Fares, The Conversation

In 1968, American computer scientist Ivan Sutherland predicted the future of augmented and virtual reality with his concept of the "Ultimate Display. The Ultimate Display relied on the kinetic depth effect to create two dimensional images that moved with its users, giving the illusion of a three-dimensional display.

While the concept of virtual reality only focuses on the creation of three-dimensional environments, the metaverse—a term coined by Neal Stephenson in his 1992 book Snow Crash—is a much broader concept that surpasses this.

While no official definition of the metaverse truly exists, science and technology reporter Matthew Sparkes provides a decent one. He defines the metaverse as "a shared online space that incorporates 3D graphics, either on a screen or in virtual reality."

Since the term was coined, the idea of the metaverse has remained more of a fictional concept than a scientific one. However, with technological advancements in recent years, the metaverse has become more tangible. Much of the recent hype happened after Mark Zuckerberg made the announcement to rename the Facebook brand to Meta. Many retailers have since jumped aboard the metaverse train.

Nike recently filed multiple trademarks allowing them to create and sell Nike shoes and apparel virtually. JP Morgan opened their first virtual bank branch. Samsung recreated their New York City flagship store in the virtual browser-based platform Decentraland, where they are launching new and creating events.

While many retailers are capitalizing on the metaverse early, there is still uncertainty about whether the metaverse really is the future of retailing or whether it will be a short-lived fad. ... (more that discusses this usefully)  ...